TURNING DEVICE FOR OVERHEAD SECTIONAL DOORS

Abstract: The invention relates to a turning device for overhead sectional doors, which door comprises a plurality of adjacent interarticulated panels (1), rollers (3) disposed at the outermost hinge points of the panels and in the vicinity of the lower and upper edges of the door, and intended to move along a rail (5) on each side of the door, the uppermost rollers being fitted to the door by means of turning arms (4) and each rail (5) comprising a vertical portion (5a) attached to the door jamb, a horizontal portion (5b) substantially at the height of the upper edge of the door, and a bent portion (5c) connecting the vertical and horizontal portions. The turning device arranged at least at one edge of the door comprises lever arm means (7) attached to the door; means for positive control (8) fixedly mounted on the door jamb or the rail (5) and adapted to contact the lever arm means (7) a predetermined length; and a drive arm (9) disposed between the lever arm means (7) and the arm (4) of the uppermost roller, whereby when the door is opened the means for positive control (8) turn the lever arm means (7) which in turn, by means of the drive arm (9), force the uppermost roller (3) and the uppermost panel (1) closer to each other, thus forcing the panel (1) to turn.

Description: Turning device for overhead sectional doors The invention relates to a turning device for overhead sectional doors, which door comprises a plural- ity of adjacent horizontal interarticulated panels, rollers disposed at the outermost hinge points of the panels and in the vicinity of the lower and upper edges of the door, and intended to move along a rail on each side of the door, the uppermost rollers being fitted to the door by means of turning arms and each rail compris¬ ing a vertical portion attached to the vertical part of the door jamb, a horizontal portion substantially at the height of the upper edge of the door, and a bent portion connecting the vertical and horizontal portions. Doors of this kind are generally used as garage doors. A problem with overhead sectional doors has thus far been that in connection with a normal door delivery a large extra space in height is required in addition to the height of the door to enable turning of the uppermost panel of the door. In order to overcome this problem, it has been possible to order headroom- reducing kits, the operation of which is based on double rails and different applications thereof. It is a common feature of these headroom-reducing kits that the price is high and a considerable extra space is still needed. All this makes the marketing of sectional doors more difficult compared with other door types, particularly because the ceiling is rather low in many garages. The object of the present invention is to over- come the above disadvantage by means as simple and cheap as possible. This is achieved by a turning device which according to the invention is characterized in that the turning device arranged at least at one edge of the door comprises lever arm means attached to the door; means for positive control fixedly mounted on the door jamb or the rail and adapted to contact the lever arm means a ' predetermined length near the initial opening and final closing position of the door; and a drive arm disposed between the lever arm means and the arm of the uppermost roller, whereby when the door is opened the means for positive control turn the lever arm means which in turn, by means of the drive arm, force the uppermost roller and the uppermost panel closer to each other, thus forcing the uppermost panel to turn. The invention is based on positive control of the uppermost panel by means of the uppermost roller or rollers, for which power is supplied by the relative movement of the door and the door frame structure in the initial phase of the door lifting movement and the final phase of the door closing movement. When the door is opened the turning device forces the uppermost panel to turn as soon as the lifting movement starts, and to move along the same path but in the opposite direction when the door is closed. The main advantage of the invention is that the required extra height in the building becomes insigni¬ ficant, because the required extra height is very small compared with the prior art. A very important advantage is also the small number of components needed for the turning device and the resulting low price. The turning device can be in¬ cluded in the normal door delivery, if desired, or it can be installed later, also in existing sectional doors of the type described above. Most advantageously the turning device is arranged at both edges of the door and in such a way that the lever arm means are mounted in bearings in connection with the outermost hinge between the two uppermost panels and preferably coaxially with the roller located at that point. In the following the invention will be de¬ scribed in more detail by means of two preferred ex¬ emplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows an overhead sectional door, in which a turning device according to the invention can be installed, Figure 2 is a side elevation of a first pre¬ ferred turning device according to the invention, Figure 3 shows the turning device of Figure 2 seen from the direction of the arrow A of Figure 2, Figure 4 shows the operation of the turning device according to Figures 2 and 3 in steps, Figure 5 is a side elevation of a second pre- ferred turning device according to the invention, Figure 6 shows the turning device of Figure 5 seen from the direction of the arrow B of Figure 5, Figure 7 shows the operation of the turning device according to Figures 5 and 6 in steps. The overhead sectional door shown in Figure 1 comprises four adjacent horizontal panels 1 interarticu- lated by hinges 2a, 2b and 2c, and rollers 3 fitted to the outermost hinges 2c of the panels 1 in the vicinity of the upper and lower edges of the door in the same vertical planes as the rollers on the outermost hinges. The mounting of the uppermost rollers 3 differs from the mounting of the other rollers 3 in that they are attach¬ ed to the uppermost panel 1 by means of turning arms 4 (see e.g. Figure 2). The rollers 3 are intended to move along a rail 5 on each side of the door. Both rails com¬ prise a vertical portion 5a attached to a vertical part 6 of the door jamb or the like, a horizontal portion 5b attached to the ceiling of the garage or the like sub¬ stantially at the height of the upper edge of the door, and a bent portion 5c connecting the vertical and hori¬ zontal portions 5a and 5b. Figures 2 and 3 show in detail one preferred turning device according to the invention, which can be arranged on either side or both sides of the door shown in Figure 1. The turning device comprises lever arm means 7 mounted in bearings in connection with the out¬ ermost hinge 2c between the two uppermost panels 1, co¬ axially with the roller 3 located at that point; means for positive control 8 fixedly mounted in connection with the rail portion 5a and adapted to contact the lever arm means 7 a predetermined length near the ini¬ tial opening and final closing position of the door; and a drive arm 9 disposed between the lever arm means 7 and the arm 4 of the uppermost roller 3. The lever arm means 7 comprise a sprocket wheel 7a mounted in bearings coaxially with the uppermost roller and a lever arm 7b immovably mounted in connec¬ tion with the sprocket wheel, one end of the lever arm being articulated to the lower end of the drive arm 9. The means for positive control 8 comprise a vertical chain-like piece with horizontal spaced-apart studs 8a cooperating with the sprocket wheel 7a. The upper end of the drive arm 9 is in turn articulated to the arm 4 of the roller 3 by means of an auxiliary arm 4a fastened thereto. When the door is opened the means for positive control 8 turn the lever arm means 7 which in turn, by means of the drive arm 9, force the uppermost roller 3 and the uppermost panel 1 closer to each other, thus causing the uppermost panel 1 to turn. The operation of the turning device is described step by step in Figure 4. In step a) the door is closed, the lever arm means 7 are in the lowermost position and the roller 3 is halfway on the bent portion 5c of the rail 5. In step b) the door has been lifted approximately 20 mm, the sprocket wheel 7a of the lever arm means 7 has turned by the action of the means for positive control 8 ap¬ proximately to the midpoint of its path, the drive arm 9 has pushed the arm 4 midway between its extreme posi¬ tions, and the roller 3 is ascending from the bent por¬ tion 5c of the rail to the horizontal portion 5b, and the uppermost panel 1 has turned approximately 15°. In step c) the door has been lifted approximately 40 mm, whereby the sprocket wheel 7a is becoming detached from connection with the means for positive control 8, the arm 4 has turned into its other extreme position and the roller 3 has reached the horizontal portion 5b of the rail, the uppermost panel 1 being thereafter free from the positive control of the turning device as the lift¬ ing movement is continued. Correspondingly, when the door is closed the turning device guides the uppermost panel 1 down along the same path as described above, back into the position of step a). The second preferred embodiment of the turning device shown in Figures 5 and 6 differs from the device according to Figures 2 and 3 primarily in that the lever arm means 7' comprise a lever arm, one end of which is articulated to the lower end of the drive arm 9 and the other end cooperates with the means for positive control 8' which comprise a groove for positive control 8a' . The means for positive control 8 ' is formed of a cup-like piece open at the top and one side of said means is open, thus forming said groove for positive control 8a' . The auxiliary arm 4a' of the uppermost roller has also a slightly different shape from that shown in Figures 2 and 3. The operation of this second turning device is described step by step in Figure 7 a) to c). These steps correspond with the steps in Figure 4, except that in this case positive control of the lever arm means 7' is provided by the groove 8a' of the means for positive control 8' . Herein the other end of the lever arm means 7' is detached from and connected to the means for positive control at the open upper end thereof. In the foregoing the invention has been de¬ scribed by means of only two preferred exemplary embodi¬ ments. However, a person skilled in the art can imple¬ ment its details in many alternative ways within the scope of the attached claims. Thus, for example, the lever arm means can be formed by means of a sprocket wheel only, and the means for positive control cooper¬ ating with the sprocket wheel can be formed as a ver¬ tical piece with toothing. Correspondingly the number of door panels and the other details can vary as well.

Claims: Claims 1. A turning device for overhead sectional doors, which door comprises a plurality of adjacent horizontal interarticulated panels (1), rollers (3) dis¬ posed at the outermost hinge points of the panels and in the vicinity of the lower and upper edges of the door, and intended to move along a rail (5) on each side of the door, the uppermost rollers being fitted to the door by means of turning arms (4) and each rail ( 5 ) com¬ prising a vertical portion ( 5a) attached to the vertical part (6) of the door jamb, a horizontal portion (5b) substantially at the height of the upper edge of the door, and a bent portion (5c) connecting the vertical and horizontal portions, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the turning device arranged at least at one edge of the door comprises lever arm means ( 7; 7' ) attached to the door; means for positive control (8; 8' ) fixedly mounted on the door jamb or the rail (5) and adapted to contact the lever arm means (7; 7' ) a predetermined length near the initial opening and final closing position of the door; and a drive arm (9) disposed between the lever arm means (7; 7' ) and the arm (4 ) of the uppermost roller, whereby when the door is opened the means for positive control (8; 8' ) turn the lever arm means (7; 7' ) which in turn, by means of the drive arm (9), force the uppermost roller (3) and the uppermost panel (1) closer to each other, thus forcing the uppermost panel (1) to turn. 2. A turning device according to Claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the lever arm means (7; 7 ' ) are mounted in bearings in connection with the outermost hinge (2c) between the two uppermost panels (1), coaxially with the roller (3) located at that point. 3. A turning device according to Claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the lever arm means (7) comprise a sprocket wheel (7a) and a lever arm (7b) immovably mounted in connection with the sprocket wheel, one end of the lever arm being articulated to the lower end of the drive arm (9 ) . 4. A turning device according to Claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the means for posit¬ ive control (8) comprise a vertical chain-like piece with horizontal spaced-apart studs (8a) cooperating with the sprocket wheel (7a) of the lever arm means (7) . 5. A turning device according to Claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the means for posit¬ ive control (8) comprise a vertical piece with toothing cooperating with the sprocket wheel (7a) of the lever arm means. 6. A turning device according to Claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the lever arm means comprise a lever arm (7' ), one end of which is articu- lated to the lower end of the drive arm (9 ) and the other end cooperates with the means for positive control (8' ) which comprise a groove for positive control (8a' ).

Inventors: VIITAMAEKI TAPIO, VIITAMAEKI, TAPIO
Applicants: VIITAMAEKI TAPIO, VIITAMAEKI, TAPIO
Application year: 1994
Main classification: E05D15
IPC codes: E05D15